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Catacombs: Black Death Rising
Catacombs: Black Death Rising was one of the eight haunted houses that were featured during Halloween Horror Nights: Twenty Years of Fear. It was located in Sprung Tent 1. History and Location In 2010, Universal decided to have haunted house based in the Paris Catacombs. The house would feature many plague doctors and diseased monsters. It would be called Catacombs: Black Dead Rising and would gain a cult status, as many fans would bring cats and combs into the house. This house would also mark the first time a house would be featured in Carey, Ohio's sister city, Carae, France. The codename for this house was "Spy", a reference to how the plague doctors look like the spies from Spy vs. Spy. In 2006, Universal built two hurricane-proof tents behind the World Expo area of the park specifically for holding Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses. This house would be located in the southernmost one (called Sprung Tent 1). Story In 1534, thousands died due to an undisclosed viral outbreak in the cities of Paris and Marseilles. A group of doctors took it upon themselves to quarantine the most infected citizens of the city of Carae, France. They had no way of knowing that the townspeople would betray them, sealing them into their doom. They have been unable to escape for almost five hundred years. Now that the dead inside have found a way out, they are rising to take their centuries old vengeance on any living being that dares to enter the Catacombs. Description During the plague, the infected were quarantined and trapped beneath the city. Now almost 500 years later, the dead are seeking vengeance. Experience Queue The queue for the house presented itself as the entry for an open archaeological dig undertaken by the Washington State and Ohio State universities, called L'Innocent: Une Etude de la Peste Noire or "The Innocent: A Study of the Black Death". Signs around the queue line gave the backstory for the event, explaining the Black Death outbreak, the Plague Doctors encountered in the house, and the setting of the house: on the ancient ruins of Carae, France. A worker's dead body can be seen in the extended queue. Haunted House The house's opening scene was a mausoleum with open crypts. One of the crypts in the walls, revealed a hand attempting to grab guests. The guests then passed through a series of catacombs, and doctors operating on patients. The finale scene put guests in an unfinished section of the museum being constructed on the site, with wind whipping the plastic dust covers around and several of the corpses on display coming to life to attack. Pictures IMG_0342.jpg| IMG_0343.jpg| IMG_0345.jpg| IMG_0346.jpg| [1][2][3][4] Trivia * Catacombs: Black Death Rising was locally infamous for attaining a cult appeal similar to the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. One of the local customs which served as a running joke amongst local Halloween Horror Nights visitors was the possession of plush toy cats and plastic combs which gave it the nickname "Cats 'n Combs". *Carae was confirmed to be Carey's sister city in France. Category:Halloween Horror Nights: Twenty Years of Fear Category:Halloween Horror Nights Orlando Haunted Houses Category:Sprung Tent 1 Category:Original Houses Category:Halloween Horror Nights Orlando